endowment policy sold by bank halifax

railmanbb

hi,
its my first time on here but was wondering what the standing is on the above.
In the year 2000 i bought my first house and was advised to take out an endowment policy for the mortage which i did,i was a young lad at the time and all this was headache.
after a couple of years at the house i was laid off work and had my first child on the way,i fell behind with my mortage which i had with halifax.
after this went on for some time i had a letter through the post off the bank that they were going to cash in my endowment to clear the the missed payments.
as still being young and my father having some money in my property, and not wanting him to find out that i was behind with the mortage.
having constant calls off the bank about the missed payments i agreed to sell.
dose this warrant for anything back from the bank,could any body advise.
thanks

silvercar

I'm surprised you were advised to take out an endowment policy as late as 2000. I thought endowments were not the way to go from early 90s.

So it may be, but may not have been, missold in the first place.

I'm very surprised that they advised that you should cash in an endowment in its early days.

If you are going to complain, first start with following the Halifax internal complaint procedure.

dunstonh

I'm surprised you were advised to take out an endowment policy as late as 2000. I thought endowments were not the way to go from early 90s.

They had mostly died a death across the mainstream by about 1998. However, there are always a few stragglers. Although surprised to see a bank sold one in 2000. most direct sales forces had ceased endowments by then.

dose this warrant for anything back from the bank

If they surrendered the policy (which they were allowed to do) and used the proceeds against your arrears, then there will be no money back due to you as it would have been offset against your debt.

silvercar

dunstonh wrote: »

They had mostly died a death across the mainstream by about 1998. However, there are always a few stragglers. Although surprised to see a bank sold one in 2000. most direct sales forces had ceased endowments by then.

If this was an advised sale, could it have been missold? Just on the grounds that endowments weren't the most appropriate vehicle?

If they surrendered the policy (which they were allowed to do) and used the proceeds against your arrears, then there will be no money back due to you as it would have been offset against your debt.

Do you mean OP is allowed to surrender or that the lender is allowed to surrender? I doubt the endowment would have been assigned to the Halifax. I know my original Halifax endowment mortgage, the lender passed the endowment back to us at some point early 90s.

If the proceeds of the cashed-in policy were used to reduce the debt, this would have been documented and you should be able to see it on old statements (as should the Halifax, if you haven't kept statements).

I do wonder if OP is thinking of a complaint/ compensation rather than just "where has the money gone". By any calculation, I doubt keeping the endowment would have been financially any better.

dunstonh

If this was an advised sale, could it have been missold? Just on the grounds that endowments weren't the most appropriate vehicle?

Endowments were never classed as bad products. So, whilst most had slowed or stopped at that stage, there was never anything that said they should be stopped.

Also, by 2000, the disclosure requirements were so much better and ironically, the target growth rates were much lower than the 80s and 90s versions. So, a 2000 plan would actually have a much better chance of hitting target. By that time, seeing target growth rates of 5% was typical and much more realistic.

It could have been mis-sold but in reality, it is irrelevant here as it is more than 6 years from the sale of the plan or 3 years from the event in question. It could be timebarred on that basis. Plus, even if they volunteered to not apply the time bar and agreed to look at the complain and the complaint was upheld, the redress would be the difference between the repayment mortgage and the interest only mortgage plus surrender value up to the point it was surrendered. This, from what the OP says, is just a few years. A repayment mortgage barely drops in the first few years. So, it is possible, that the endowment had actually accrued more at that point than a comparable repayment mortgage. Any differences are likely to be tiny.

Do you mean OP is allowed to surrender or that the lender is allowed to surrender? I doubt the endowment would have been assigned to the Halifax. I know my original Halifax endowment mortgage, the lender passed the endowment back to us at some point early 90s.

if the policy was assigned then the lender is allowed to instruct surrender. If it was not assigned, then the insurer would not take any instructions other than from the policyholder.

I do wonder if OP is thinking of a complaint/ compensation rather than just "where has the money gone". By any calculation, I doubt keeping the endowment would have been financially any better.

If it is a complaint then the timebar could be applied. Plus, as mentioned above, the fact it was only a couple of years means the differences between the two would be tiny. If the surrender also avoided repossession (at worst) or reduced arrears fees, then that saved money rather than cost money.

Uzmb

My father was sold an endowment policy by Halifax in the late 80's. Can he still make a claim for miselling?

dunstonh

Uzmb wrote: »

My father was sold an endowment policy by Halifax in the late 80's. Can he still make a claim for miselling?

Depends on when in the 80s. Halifax didnt have an own agency until the late 80s. They used local agents to do it and the local agents carry liability on those. And if they were sold before April 1988, then that is pre-regulation and they dont have to answer to any complaint.

If it was one sold under the Halifax liability (which I believe would have been Standard Life back then) then yes you can complain. However, most endowments have been timebarred from complaint as you have 3 years to complain from being reasonably aware of an issue. Being notified of a high risk of a shortfall (via the statements) started happening in the early 2000s and by around 2007/8, most endowments met the timebar criteria.

So, its possible but not enough info to go on.

Uzmb

Thank you Dunstonh

I have checked with my father and he said in was taken out in the year 1989. Will give it a try!